Posted by burnsy483 on 9/11/2013 9:41:00 AM (view original):OK, seriously. The case for Trout was a little better last year than this year. I'll take the guy who gets on base more often and is easily a better slugger. IMO, it makes up for the Cabrera defensive issues and any baserunning advantage Trout has.

I'm not sure what the exact number is these days, but the "cutoff" number for stolen base success is around 67%. if you steal at less than that rate, you are hurting your team.

Trout has atempted 39 steals. 67% of that would be 26 stolen bases. He's been successful 32 times, so that's a net +6 for him.
Cabrera is 3-0 in stolen base attempts. He's got a net +1.

Posted by burnsy483 on 9/11/2013 9:41:00 AM (view original):OK, seriously. The case for Trout was a little better last year than this year. I'll take the guy who gets on base more often and is easily a better slugger. IMO, it makes up for the Cabrera defensive issues and any baserunning advantage Trout has.

I'm not sure what the exact number is these days, but the "cutoff" number for stolen base success is around 67%. if you steal at less than that rate, you are hurting your team.

Trout has atempted 39 steals. 67% of that would be 26 stolen bases. He's been successful 32 times, so that's a net +6 for him.
Cabrera is 3-0 in stolen base attempts. He's got a net +1.

So the effective difference in SB's between Trout and Cabrera is 5.

Whoopty **** for Trout's base running advantage.

A) that's not how net SB is calculated. Cabrera is net 3. Trout is net 25.
B) base running is more than just SB.

Posted by burnsy483 on 9/11/2013 10:02:00 AM (view original):Well yes, but it's just not about stolen bases. Getting from 1st to 3rd on a line drive to right-center is also valuable, etc. I know Trout does that more than Cabrera.

Before the season, Mike Trout talked about wanting to be more patient at the plate, about drawing more walks, because in his first full season in the big leagues he had shown some impatience and, naturally, he wanted to get better.

Well, a year later, Trout has increased his walk total -- by about 50 percent. He is on pace to draw 102 walks this season, as well as 203 hits, 78 extra-base hits, 110 runs, 95 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.

A longtime player was asked last week about the MVP vote in the American League. “Trout’s going to win it, isn’t he?” he responded. “There isn’t really any question about it -- he’s the best player in baseball.”

• Trout currently leads the AL in hits with 179. • He leads the league in walks with 90. • He leads in runs with 97. • He’s tied for fifth in doubles with 37. • He’s third in OPS at 1.009. • He is also running away from everybody else in WAR, in the way that he did last year.

Last year, the drumbeat of the Trout-for-MVP discussion was led by talent evaluators who work in street clothes -- the general managers, the assistant general managers, the scouts. But this year, you hear it more and more from players. They view Trout as occupying a very special and distinct place in the sport.

But the best overall player? The folks in front offices still can’t believe there’s a debate about this, given Trout’s staggering preeminence in the statistical evaluations they compile. Now, more and more players are agreeing with them, in Trout’s second full year in the big leagues.